CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-TWO

A Chariot Fit for Adventure, Part 2

Without giving Sam any explanation on how he resisted the urge to attack the hero despite the Mark of Hector placed upon him, Mr. Marsday quickly and eagerly ushered his guests into the section of the Marsday Facility that he called his “Garage.”

“Isn’t she lovely?” Mr. Marsday asked in an infatuated tone. “Isn’t she wonderful?”

While he gazed at the vehicle Mr. Marsday built for their journey into Hades, Sam’s worries about vampire attacks disappeared from his mind for shock and awe had pushed that problem aside. It didn’t matter that they knew very little about their new host apart from his name. All that mattered right now was the war machine parked on the garage’s central platform.

“Say hello to the Argo VII two-point-oh,” Mr. Marsday clapped. While Sam’s appropriate response was, “Holy Zeus.”

The Argo VII retained its sleek school bus body with its matte black finish, although it looked nothing like any bus Sam had ever seen or one that he’d want kids to ride in.

“It’s bigger,” Thunder commented, to which Jackboot added, “That would be an understatement… Where was this monster when we were fighting the Nemean Lion?”

The Argo VII’s four wheels had been replaced by tank treads running along the length of its chassis. Mounted at its rear were two large high-tech cylinders. One to each side of the bus.

At first, Sam thought these were rocket propellers, which he couldn’t help but gush over. But, as he moved closer to inspect them, he saw the bronze fans at the end of each cylinder and thought they were something one would see underneath a modern sailing vessel.

“Hey, Jackboot,” Sam called, “are these what I think they are?”

Jackboot, who seemed just as excited as Sam despite the mask covering his face, hopped over to join Sam by the platform’s rear side. A second later, he yelled, “Bloody Duat, I think you’re right—these are high-powered propellers used in the latest amphibious vehicles currently on the market.”

“Trust me, there are no propellers like these babies available on the market right now,” Mr. Marsday corrected. “These are the only two in existence that can safely ferry the Argo VII across any of the rivers of the underworld.”

“All five rivers?” Thunder asked.

“Whether you’re floating on the lazy Lethe, sailing through frigid Cocytus, exploring the underwater caverns of the Acheron, or trudging through the blockade of souls swimming in the Styx—the Argo VII’s new amphibious feature will get you where you need to go,” Mr. Marsday assured them.

“How will these propellers hold up on the Phlegethon?” Thunder pressed.

“If you’re crossing the river of fire to get to the other side of it then you should be fine, although I do not recommend staying too long in the Phlegethon’s waters which are said to burn even dragon scales,” Mr. Marsday answered.

Another new addition to the Argo VII was the line of round shields mounted underneath the bus’s windows that reminded Sam of the shields which adorned the old Greek triremes that sailed the Aegean Sea. They were a mix of shiny silver and dark iron which Sam knew were some of the best metals used to fight off horrors and phantoms. Emblazoned over each shield was the Gorgoneion, an ancient symbol of protection that, ironically enough, featured the decapitated head of a terrifying gorgon.

“This Gorgoneion barrier should give you some protection against lost souls and minor horrors,” Mr. Marsday explained.

“Won’t all this silver and iron attract monsters to us anyway?” Miracle Girl asked.

“We’d be like a beacon of light in the darkness,” Farsight agreed.

“These are only out now to show you the Argo VII’s basic defensive capabilities.” They must have been working too because Mr. Marsday hadn’t moved any closer to the Argo VII since they entered the expansive space of his garage. “Such an issue can easily be remedied with a push of a button.”

The vampire support specialist tapped a finger on his state-of-the-art smartphone’s glass body. A second later and black matte covers slid over all of the shields.

“And, if you want to dial up your stealth settings some more”—he tapped on his smartphone a second time—“there’s always camouflage mode.”

One by one, the panels that made up the Argo VII’s body disappeared from view much like a chameleon might disappear from one’s sight.

“I’ve combined an ‘Inconspicuous Charm’ and ‘Muffle Hex’ with retroreflector fabric to create this camouflage effect, combining sorcery and science to develop high-level stealth capabilities that’ll make your journey across the underworld somewhat easier. Assuming you avoid getting too close with the locals, that is,” Mr. Marsday explained. But then he also added, “However, as amazing a feat as this is, I doubt my camouflage will fool Cerberus. From what I’ve heard of him, the beast’s nose is extra-sensitive to any form of stealth tech.”

“So, avoid the giant three-headed dog at all costs,” Miracle Girl reiterated. “Shouldn’t be too difficult. We are avoiding the front gate, aren’t we?”

“Well, that’s assuming we find Medea before she can open her portal,” Thunder answered. “If we fail that then the only way into Hades will require a visit to the Nekromanteion in Ephyra…”

“Would they even allow living people into the country of the damned?” Jackboot asked in a skeptical tone.

“Only diplomats and humans they plan to eat,” Mr. Marsday answered in a very nonchalant tone.

“I can’t go to Ephyra,” Sam said.

Mr. Marsday gazed coolly in Sam’s direction. The red irises behind his purple shades widened for just a moment as if he’d just suppressed a fury from taking him over, and then he was back to smiling at the hero.

“You stepping into Ephyra would force many of my brethren into a frenzy… As powerful as some of you are, you will not survive such an event,” Mr. Marsday stated.

Now that they were back on the topic of vampires, Sam felt it was the right time to ask, “How are you not affected by the Mark of Hector?”

“I’m a non-conformer,” Mr. Marsday replied.

“Non-conformer?” Sam repeated, sounding quite confused.

He would have asked Chiron what the vampire meant, but Sam had noticed a sudden silence in his brain when they’d entered Mr. Marsday’s garage like he’d lost the psychic connection between himself and his centaur master. Triple-A wasn’t working either, and that worried him as well.

“It means he’s not into following rules, social norms, fads, etc.,” Farsight piped up.

“I know what non-conforming means,” Sam insisted. “I was asking about its context in terms of—”

“The curse Hades placed on you?” Farsight finished for him. “I know. I’m just helping you unknot that tension that’s got you all wound up, Sam.”

Then don’t say my civilian name in front of a freaking vampire, was what Sam wanted to say, but instead, he said, “I’m not tense.”

“Yes, you are,” Mr. Marsday answered for Farsight. “I can smell the anxiety coming off you. It’s quite pungent.”

“I don’t smell,” Sam whispered, although he did just take a sniff of his armpit in what he hoped was a subtle move. It wasn’t.

Thunder was already rolling her eyes at him. “I thought you said the mark didn’t bother you?”

“It didn’t bother me,” Sam agreed. Then he leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Until we were face to face with another vampire…”

“No point in whispering. I can hear you just fine with my vampiric senses,” Mr. Marsday chuckled. “Ah, would you care to see the new interior now?”

Another brand-new feature of the Argo VII was its door lock. They didn’t need a key anymore. As Mr. Marsday demonstrated, the crew of the Argo VII need only press their palms on the door and its security system would recognize any registered team members.

“I’ve done the liberty of imprinting your original team’s prints into the system, but you’ll have to manually add in your new additions. Otherwise, nothing will work for them even if they gain access into the Argo VII’s interior,” Mr. Marsday explained.

Weirdly enough, the Argo VII’s door didn’t open for the vampire, prompting a frown to appear on Mr. Marsday’s face.

“Oh, yes,” he shook his head. “I forgot about the two-step verification I installed into the system. You can choose to remove it later if you wish, but I don’t recommend it.”

He pressed his palm against the door a second time while humming a tune to the pad’s microphone that Miracle Girl claimed sounded a lot like the theme song for the original Star Wars trilogy.

“I’m a John Williams fan,” Mr. Marsday admitted as soon as the door slid open for them.

“A vampire who likes Star Wars… who are you?” Sam wondered aloud. “And how are you so calm and collected even with me standing right behind you?”

Instead of walking through the door, Mr. Marsday turned around and gave Sam a pointed look. “You’re not willing to let this go, I see.”

“I can’t just let things go,” Sam reasoned.

“He really can’t,” Thunder agreed. “Sometimes it’s endearing. Sometimes it’s not. Like now.”

Mr. Marsday chuckled. “Truthfully, I don’t mind telling you. After all, the noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.”

Sam frowned. Where have I heard that before?

“My resistance to your curse is not some grand endeavor as you might believe,” Mr. Marsday began. “Quite simply, I was never one to follow the rules of the ‘man’ when I was alive so why would I follow the rules of the damned after becoming undead?”

“You can just do that?” Sam asked.

“It is simple enough for a learned man to shrug off the compulsions that plague my brethren and tethers them to the god of the Underworld,” he said proudly. “However, I will admit that such strength also requires a leaner diet than most of my kind are capable of managing.”

“So, no human blood, huh?” Farsight guessed.

“Exactly,” Mr. Marsday nodded.

“Doesn’t that make you weaker?” Thunder asked.

“Sacrificing power to maintain my sanity even through a frenzy is a small price to pay for a man of my high intellect,” he shrugged.

“And you’re a man of high intellect?” Jackboot confirmed.

“I am,” Mr. Marsday flashed them a toothy grin that showed off his two pointy fangs, “which you would know about me if you knew who I was.”

That part had been bothering Sam since the moment they’d met. The fact that this vampire was someone Sam thought he’d seen before. Although Sam couldn’t quite place where he’d seen the vampire’s face before.

He stared at the back of Mr. Marsday’s dark brown hair which fell in wavy curls on his shoulders. “Who are you?”

Mr. Marsday’s face turned contemplative for a second. “I have been many things… I have been an engineer, scientist, sculptor, architect—”

“Painter?” Farsight offered.

Mr. Marsday chuckled. “The powers of a seer are formidable indeed.”

“I didn’t ‘see’ into you or anything like that. But I do remember seeing a self-portrait of yours when I visited Florence with my sisters when I first met with the current Oracle of Delphi six years ago,” Farsight explained.

“Six years… that is a long time to remember a face in a painting,” Mr. Marsday noted.

Farsight shrugged. “What can I say, I might just be a woman of high intellect too.”

That made their host laugh. Although it was a reserved sort of laughter.

“Indeed, you just might be.” Mr. Marsday gave Farsight what Sam would call a courtly bow. Afterward, he posed her a question. “Perhaps you can tell your friends who it is you think I am?”

As if presenting a debutante at a ball, Farsight moved over to stand beside Mr. Marsday, and with a flourish of her hand, introduced him, “Guys, meet Leonardo Da Vinci.”